Nanotechnology

Everything you ever wanted to watch … on one super-sized DVD

By Mick Webb

17:26 May 22, 2009 PDT

Until recently, the idea of holding your entire collection of movies on a single super-sized DVD was the stuff of science fiction. According to Australian researchers at Melbourne's Swinburne University of Technology, advances in their study of nanoparticles have raised the possibility of storing vast amounts of data on the one disc in the not-too-distant future. Read More

Nanocoating to help monitor safety of aircraft, bridges

By David Greig

22:10 May 20, 2009 PDT

One of the promising applications for the emerging field of nanotechnology is the monitoring of large-scale infrastructures, such as bridges. The latest foray into this field comes from the Queensland University of Technology's (QUT) School of Engineering – it is studying a new nanocomposite material that could improve the maintenance of large-scale infrastructure and provide early warning of any deterioration. Read More

New virus-built battery could power cars, electronic devices

By Darren Quick

22:22 April 22, 2009 PDT

Be they biological or computer, viruses generally get a pretty bad rap - what with their reputation for infection, reproduction and disease it’s not surprising that their name is actually Latin for toxin or poison. But it's not all bad press - for example geneticists harness viruses to further the study of cell biology and they also hold much potential in the emerging field of nanotechnology where their size, shape and well-defined chemical structure has led to them being used as templates for organizing materials on the nanoscale. Now MIT researchers have turned viruses to the task of building a battery – and they’ve succeeded. Read More

Is your sunscreen damaging the environment?

By Darren Quick

21:08 March 31, 2009 PDT

Your sunscreen might be preventing damage to your skin, but it may also be causing untold damage to the environment. A study carried out by scientists in Ohio has reported that nanoparticles now being added to cosmetics, sunscreens, and hundreds of other personal care products may be harmful to the environment by negatively affecting beneficial bacteria. Read More

Nano-antennas used to fight cancer

By Stephen Saunders

21:05 March 12, 2009 PDT

A PhD candidate from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) has pioneered some innovative new treatments in the emerging field of nanomedicine that could aid in the fight against cancer. Geoffrey von Maltzahn's polymer-coated gold ‘nano-antennas’ are designed to be injected into the bloodstream to target and destroy cancerous tumors. Read More

Nanotechnology and rainmaking

By Darren Quick

23:41 March 10, 2009 PDT

Rainmaking has advanced since the days when a ritual dance was believed to invoke the wet stuff, but while modern day cloud seeding has been shown to change the structure and size of clouds, it’s still debatable whether the practice actually has any effect on rainfall. After all, even if precipitation does occur after cloud seeding there’s no way of knowing whether it would have rained anyway. This uncertainty hasn’t stopped widespread use of cloud seeding in countries around the world including the US, Russia, Australia and China, which boasts the largest cloud seeding system in the world. Now a breakthrough by an international team of scientists could help in the development of new materials which could be used to enhance the process. Read More

Micro generator produces power from movement

By Kyle Sherer

13:32 November 18, 2008 PST

A micron-scale generator that uses zinc oxide wires to produce alternating current could be woven into clothing to power wireless devices or implanted in the body to monitor vital signs. A team led by Zhong Lin Wang at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Center for Nanostructure Characterization has developed the generator, which can produce an oscillating output voltage of up to 45 millivolts. Read More

The world's most advanced electron microscope

By Darren Quick

23:52 October 21, 2008 PDT

Microscopes have been an integral tool for scientists for hundreds of years, opening up the world that surrounds us and providing countless scientific breakthroughs. Now the most advanced and powerful electron microscope on the planet—capable of unprecedented resolution—has been installed in the new Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy at McMaster University in Ontario. Read More

The ORION PLUS helium ion microscope

By Kyle Sherer

04:03 August 5, 2008 PDT

Carl Zeiss SMT has introduced an improved version of its helium ion microscope at the Microscopy and Microanalysis 2008 exhibition: the ORION PLUS. By focusing helium ions into a beam, instead of electrons, the microscope can offer higher focus with lower sample damage. Read More

"Avalanche effect" research promises greater solar cell efficiency

By Emily Clark

23:43 May 27, 2008 PDT

Research continues to improve efficiency in solar cells, whilst simultaneously finding ways to lower the costs of module production. The latest research from TU Delft and the FOM Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter surrounds the use of semiconducting nanocrystals (crystals with dimensions in the nanometer size range) to demonstrate a phenomenon called the “avalanche effect” which has the potential to significantly boost solar cell efficiency. Read More

Magnetic Shape Memory Alloys to create robotic claws with nanometer precision

By Kyle Sherer

20:38 May 25, 2008 PDT

Researchers at the University of the Basque Country have used ferromagnetic shape memory alloys to develop experimental devices that can position objects within an accuracy of 20 nanometers. The devices do not consume energy after being put in place, and have applications ranging from medical science to positioning mirrors in high-power telescopes. Read More

IBM set to supercede Flash with superfast, high capacity, low cost Racetrack memory

By Loz Blain

22:58 April 10, 2008 PDT

April 11, 2008 Nanotechnology was more science fiction than fact when Dr. Eric Drexler released his seminal 'Engines of Creation: the Coming Era of Nanotechnology' in 1986. 20 years later, this revolutionary discipline, which focuses on the manipulation of matter at an atomic or sub-atomic level, is starting to bear fruits in a vast array of bleeding-edge technologies. With nanotech innovations spurring the latest advances from solar energy capture that works in the dark, to long-range, high-power, quick charging batteries for electric cars, to fog-free glass and smart self-thermoregulating fabrics already maturing as viable technologies, the latest advances in nanowire data storage from IBM seem set to thrash both hard drives and flash memory at their own games. It'll be incredibly fast, virtually indestructible thanks to no moving parts, its capacity will be absolutely enormous, it'll use next to no power and produce next to no heat - and it will be 100 times cheaper per byte than flash memory. What's more, IBM says the public debut of this amazing "Racetrack" memory "could be closer than you think." Read More

The Nokia Morph Concept Phone

By Mike Hanlon

19:07 February 27, 2008 PST

Nanotechnology looks set yield some seemingly magical functionality in the near future, and a recent concept product from Nokia puts most of the technologies that will be viable for handhelds within the next decade into one fascinating instrument. The Morph does just that, being flexible so that it can change shape from candy bar phone to bracelet. It’s also transparent, has self-cleaning surfaces, can sense and observe and even harvest energy from the local environment. The result of a partnership between Nokia and the University of Cambridge, the Morph went on display this week alongside the remarkable "Design and the Elastic Mind" exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Read More

Low cost, nano-based solar cell from GE

By Emily Clark

17:58 January 21, 2008 PST

January 22, 2008 GE Global Research, has demonstrated a scalable silicon nanowire-based solar cell, which has the potential to achieve up to 18% efficiency. The breakthrough by the lab’s Nano Photovoltaics (PV) team is a promising new development in making PV systems more economically viable for consumers than conventional solar options. Read More

Researchers developing solar technology that works at night

By Darren Quick

16:05 January 3, 2008 PST

January 4, 2008 Idaho National Laboratory (INL) reports that research conducted in conjunction with partners at Microcontinuum Inc. (Cambridge, MA) and Patrick Pinhero of the University of Missouri is promising a method for developing cheap solar energy technology that could be imprinted on flexible materials and still draw energy after the sun has set. The technology uses a special manufacturing process to stamp tiny square spirals, or “nanoantennas”, of conduction metal onto a sheet of plastic and the team estimates individual nanoantennas can absorb close to 80 percent of the available energy in comparison to current commercial solar panels which usually transform less that 20 percent of the usable energy that strikes them into electricity – this is even more impressive than the 30% conversion rate offered by the recently discussed development of nano flakes. Read More

Nano Flakes promise greater solar energy efficiency

By Emily Clark

19:53 December 19, 2007 PST

December 20, 2007 The inefficiency of solar cells in converting the sun’s rays into electricity is a key contributor to the high costs of solar energy, but new research into a novel shape of semiconductor nanostructures known as "nano flakes" may revolutionize the process and help improve the viability of clean energy derived from the sun. Read More

Shrinking supercomputers: IBM optical modulator promises processing breakthrough

By Noel McKeegan

23:11 December 5, 2007 PST

December 6, 2007 IBM scientists have announced a breakthrough that could lead to a new generation of supercomputers that squeeze the processing power of today's giants into the form factor of a laptop. The research is based on the use of a light pulses sent through silicon instead of electrical signals on wires which make up conventional computer chips and also promises incredibly energy efficient processors that would expend only the energy of a light bulb to achieve what current supercomputers do with enough power to run hundreds of homes. Read More

ORION helium ion microscope

By Kyle Sherer

16:23 October 30, 2007 PDT

October 31, 2007 A revolutionary type of microscope that uses a beam of helium ions to provide significantly higher resolution images than commonly used electron microscopes promises a new era in sub-nanometer, ultra-high resolution scanning microscopy. Read More

Researchers create a transparent composite plastic as strong as steel

By Darren Quick

23:38 October 21, 2007 PDT

October 22, 2007 Researchers at the University of Michigan have created a light-weight, transparent composite plastic that’s as strong as steel. The material mimics the brick-and-mortar molecular structure of mother of pearl, the iridescent lining of mussel and oyster shells, which is built layer by layer and is one of the toughest natural mineral based materials. Read More

Nanotech breakthrough promises single-atom data storage and molecular computers

By Mike Hanlon

12:04 August 30, 2007 PDT

IBM today announced two major scientific achievements in the field of nanotechnology that could one day lead to new kinds of devices and structures built from a few atoms or molecules. Such Lilliputian, atomic-scale devices might be used as future computer chips, storage devices, sensors and for applications nobody has imagined yet. The work will be unveiled tomorrow in two reports being published by the journal Science. In the first report, IBM scientists describe major progress in probing a property called magnetic anisotropy in individual atoms. This fundamental measurement has important technological consequences because it determines an atom’s ability to store information. Previously, nobody had been able to measure the magnetic anisotropy of a single atom. Read More

Nanotechnology offers vastly improved fingerprint acquisition

By Mike Hanlon

March 16, 2007 With the spate of Crime Scene Investigation shows currently running on television networks around the world, it’s hard not to be impressed with the evidence that technology can uncover. Well the science of fingerprinting looks set to move to a whole new level in the near future thanks to refinements to the fingerprinting process offered by two developments in nanotechnology. Described as revolutionary by people who are not prone to exaggeration (the United States Secret Service), the new nanotechnologies will enable fingerprints to be clearly developed that current techniques cannot detect. Read More

IBN Nano-Bio Kits demonstrate bioengineering and nanotechnology through interactive experiments

By Mike Hanlon

March 12, 2007 One of the problems with new technologies advancing so quickly is that the classroom can be left a long way behind. Recognising this, Singapore’s Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) is arming teachers with new tools to revitalize their teaching of science in the classrooms. IBN has launched a series of educational Kits to help secondary school and junior college teachers inject cutting-edge concepts in their laboratory lessons. Aimed at students between the ages of 15 and 19, the IBN Nano-Bio Kits feature interactive experiments and lessons on practical applications in nanobiotechnology, drug delivery and medical devices. The first three Kits in the range include the Biological Fuel Cell Kit, the Thermo-responsive Hydrogel Kit, and the Dielectrophoresis Chip Kit, and they come equipped with lesson plans, background readings, experimental components and instructions, as well as worksheets and quizzes. Teachers are also provided with worksheet answers, experimental instructional videos, and slides to help them plan lesson modules based on the scientific topics relevant to each Kit. Video on the kits here. Read More

Nanotech thermoregulator fabric developed

By Mike Hanlon

October 17, 2006 It sounds like the type of product found in a sci-fi novel, but French fabric house Avelana and Roudiere, has created a “thermoregulator” fabric line, which absorbs ambient thermal changes and offers a garment which keeps its wearer at a similar temperature regardless of the weather – much cooler in summer or much warmer in winter. The new Klimeo process involves the application of a treatment to pure or mixed wool fabrics and is ideal for traditional woven textile markets, and is beneficial for knitwear used in active outdoor and sports markets, as well as other next-to-skin applications. Though it adds remarkable new qualities to fabrics, Klimeo is invisible to the naked eye, and does not change the aesthetics, fall or texture of fabrics, and retains its new properties even after machine washing and dry cleaning.To create Klimeo, microcapsules are grafted to the fabric. These capsules change their phase depending on the temperature. The substance in the microcapsules is solid when you are in a cold environment and it is liquid when you are in a warm environment. Read More

Nanotech promises the first viable alternative to batteries in 200 years

By Mike Hanlon

February 14, 2006 Almost everything we use requires electrical storage via a battery - computers, cell phones, cars, personal entertainment devices and much more – and as compelling functionality has increased in the digital age, so too has our reliance on the traditional battery which has changed little since it was developed by Alessandro Volta in 1800. Now, work at MIT's Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems (LEES) holds the promise of the first technologically significant and economically viable alternative to conventional batteries in more than 200 years. Using nanotube structures, the LEES invention promises a significant increase on the storage capacity of existing commercial ultracapacitors by storing electrical fields at an atomic level. The new LEES ultracapacitors could replace the conventional battery in everything from the smallest MP3 players through to electric automobiles and beyond, yielding batteries with a lifetime equivalent to the product they power and recharging times inside a minute. Most significantly, they promise a much smaller and lighter “battery”, and will be an enabling technology for many new concepts such as electric bicycles with the “burst” peak power of a motorcycle, or electrical trams with the capacity of a train but without the infrastructure. In automotive terms, they raise the possibility of an integrated starter/generator and the capability of ultra-efficient regenerative braking systems. The work was presented at the recent 15th International Seminar on Double Layer Capacitors and Hybrid Energy Storage Devices and the LEES “batteries” could reach market within five years. A potentially disruptive technology! Read More

Underfoot insulation using nanotech

By Mike Hanlon

December 21, 2005 The human body needs warmth and the areas in which we feel the cold first are naturally enough those which are at the extremities – hands and feet. The feet are particularly vulnerable in arctic climates as they are continually in contact with very cold surfaces. Accordingly, the advanced nanotech underfoot insulation offered by ToastyFeet insole liners from Polar Wrap. Most insulation requires loft but when you step on it, it gets compressed and loses its loft and therefore its insulating power. Aerogel doesn't require loft as it contains nanometer-sized pockets of air that can maintain thermal protection and shape even when you step on it. In partnership with NASA, this same flexible aerogel technology is being developed for next generation space suits but you can get it now and keep your feet toasty warm. We've written about numerous applications for aerogel technology including a translucent roofing system and about the origination of the world's lightest solid. Read More